Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your responses.  Last week’s true fact was…*drum roll*…#2.

1. If a human fetus loses cells within the first 18 weeks, it will not develop properly.  –>  FALSE.  Apoptosis (programmed cell death, or cell “suicide”) occurs during fetal development, even in the early stages.  For example, you still have webbed fingers and toes in the 8th week of development, and if the cells making up the webbing didn’t die, you’d be born with webbed hands and feet.  (source 1, source 2 (just a warning, this is a science textbook with photographs so you might find it gross), source 3)
2. The longest cells in a typical human body are about 3 feet (1 meter) or longer.  –>  TRUE.  Motor neurons, which are nerve cells that help muscles move, are typically the longest cells in the body because they have very long axons, which are like the main branch that nerve signals run through.  The picture below is of a real, honest-to-goodness neuron.  That long branch you see in the middle is the axon.  (source 1, source 2, source 3) 
3. Human veins appear blue because they carry blood with less oxygen in it, and the lower oxygen content causes the veins to turn blue in color.  –>  FALSE.  Veins are not blue.  They only appear blue because light can play tricks with our brains that way.  It’s true that veins (except for the pulmonary vein) carry blood with less oxygen in it, but the lower oxygen content doesn’t turn the veins themselves blue.  The lower oxygen content simply causes the blood to look a darker red.  The reason veins look blue is actually very complicated.  Part of it has to do with the fact that blue light doesn’t penetrate as deeply into your body as red light does.  Another part has to do with the thinner walls of veins and how deep they are in the body.  And another part has to do with relative color perception…you know how if you place something purple next to something red, the purple thing appears bluer.  Or like lighter things will appear even lighter if you place it next to something dark.  Anyway, there’s all that, plus a bunch of optic phenomena involved, with different amounts of blue and red light being reflected by your skin…cool, but complicated.  (source 1, source 2, source 3)
4. Biologists have verified that G sounds more Canadian than both of the K’s put together.  –>  FALSE.  G may sound more Canadian than the two K’s, but biologists have not confirmed this.  Probably because they’re a little freaked out by how Canadian G sounds.  (sources: Binks and Taylor)

Are you ready for this week’s facts?  Here we go!

1. A cockroach can live for a month without its head.
2. The Guinness World Record for most scorpions eaten is 21.
3. The honeybee communicates with other honeybees by performing the waffle dance.
4. Kathy’s most traumatic experience with bugs was a bee sting.

Thanks to G for one of these, but I’m not telling you which.  Ha!